Justice Dhingra confirms irregularities in Robert Vadra land deals

"I have brought the irregularities to light and people behind it," Justice SN Dhingra said without naming Robert Vadra or then Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.TNN | August 31, 2016, 17:21 IST

NEW DELHI: Justice SN Dhingra has confirmed that irregularities were committed in alloting land to Robert Vadra's firms in Haryana.

"I have brought the irregularities to light and people behind it," Justice SN Dhingra said without naming Robert Vadra or then Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

"If there were no irregularities in land allotment, I would have submitted a one-sentence, not an 182-page report," Dhingra told reporters after submitting his report to the Haryana government.

Justice Dhingra said that "I can't make the contents of my report public but it is in two parts." "One part of the report deals with findings while the second part consists of evidences," he added.

" I have named government officials as well as private indiividuals in my report," he said.

When asked why he did not call IAS officer Ashok Khemka during the probe, Justice Dhingra said that it was not necessary. He futher clarified that his mandate was to inquire about irregularities in grant of licences.

Justice Dhingra said that now it is now up to the government to act on the report.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala demanded that the government should made the findings of the Dhingra commission public.

The one-man Justice SN Dhingra commission, set up by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in May last year, was asked to probe controversial land deals in Haryana, including the land deals of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.

The commission was asked to probe the grant of licenses to Vadra's company and other firms for developing commercial properties in Gurgaon's Sector 83 and some other prime areas.

It was mandated to probe their subsequent transfer or disposal, allegations of private enrichment, ineligibility of beneficiaries under the rules, and other connected matters.

Vadra had termed the inquiry commission as a "political witch-hunt" launched against him by the BJP government in Haryana.

Vadra and former Haryana chief minister as well as senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had been summoned by the commission, had refused to join the probe.

The scope of the Dhingra commission was expanded in August last year and it was asked to probe grant of all licenses to colonisers and individuals in four villages of Gurgaon by the previous Congress government in Haryana.

Vadra and others were allegedly granted favours by Hooda-led state government in issuing licenses to develop commercial properties in Gurgaon's Sector 83.